What a month!

[Brad in Texas]

On April 4th, I caught a 25.5" LMB off my boat dock, this after having a really good day the day before in a short time down there making a few casts.

 

Yesterday, I was worn out from getting back from Houston, 4 hours of sitting, so I walked down and dropped my canoe in the water (Lake Athens, Texas) and caught 5 LMBs in short order. Two were in the 4 lbs. range and the others respectable 2.5 lbers.

 

So, rain was in the forecast, thought I'd stay on my home lake and went out again this morning at 8:15 AM. I caught one really large bluegill to get things going, about 9" long but really, really fat and big enough that it swallowed a 3/0 hook! I was dropping it back in the water when I heard and saw a commotion over on the other side of the cove. A big bass was really bullying bait fish, very persistent, so I floated over and was able to catch it and about 5 or 6 others from that same spot. One was around 4 lbs. and another around 5 lbs. So, after this played out, I let the wind take me up the cove and caught a bunch more, most again in the 2.5 lbs. range. I did a mental count, came up with 1 big mouth bluegill and 11 large mouth bass. One more for a dozen. I got my kayak out of the water, then made a few casts, missed a fish that came off running me through some lily pads. I grabbed my gear and was just about to walk down the walk to dry land, thought I'd make one last cast, tossed it about 20 feet and saw something carrying my line out. I set the hook and landed the biggest fish of the day, another 5 +/-.

 

Not bad, 17 bass and one bluegill fishing over about 5 hours or so both days. One of the trips out was on a whim. Sure glad I went.

 

Photos below, two from today.    Brad

[Brad in Texas]

Oops! A bit on what I have been doing.

 

I am using a 7' St. Croix rod, Medium Power, F, and a 3000 series Shimano Ci4+ reel, 10 lbs. braid to an 8 lbs. short (6') fluoro leader. I have been using a 3/0 60 degree bend jig hook with a medium sized Owner CPS "nose screw" I attach myself and tossing out a 4" Keitech Shad Impact in Sexy Shad (but, I have had luck with various shad-like colors). After screwing into the nose, I T-Rig the hook so that its point lies down in that little slot on the bait's back and I usually skin hook the point just a tiny bit. Pretty much weedless.

 

Presentation: Well, Glenn and others here might comment and know if this is common or not. But, these baits are qualified as soft jerk baits so I tried that sort of retrieval. But, what has really worked well for me is to "pitch" out, not cast out, usually no more than 40 or so feet, often much less, and let the bait just fall, weightless, to the bottom. In a canoe or a kayak, I can get so close to my targets, I don't need use long casts often. So, I am a finesse angler by choice and preference . . . and I have found that just letting the thing drop and sit there like a dying fish . . . give it a little time and they'll pick it up. If no bite after a minute or so, I slowly lift my rod tip 2 or 3 feet, let the bait fall down again, maybe adding in a few jerks which creates this random darting to this particular lure.

 

I guess my point is I am throwing it weightless so that it looks like a wounded or dying shad, letting it sink and I fish it more finesse-like than maybe what is typical. 

 

I hope sharing these "particulars" helps someone snag a few using a different approach than perhaps what is most usual.

 

Brad

[Conrod]

Thanks for sharing!!!  What an AWESOME DAY!!

[TnRiver46]

Good looking largemouth! Even more impressive you got them on a spinning rod with 10/8 lb test 

[Darren.]

Great stuff, Brad! 

[Brad in Texas]

Thanks, everyone.

 

Yes, the spinning tackle with 10/8 line is plenty strong and I even landed my 10+ pounder in the same area on 4/4/18 using the same exact gear/lure.

 

But, it is really circumstantial. I use spinning tackle the intended way . . . controlling fish with my rod, only winding down on a loaded rod to gain ground, etc., and it works great in open water. But, if you are fishing near heavy vegetation or structures, a bass of any decent size will spool line on you and can often come un-snagged.

 

And, except for the last bass I caught standing on my boathouse deck, if one fishes from a canoe or kayak, it can help that if a fish does wrap you up, that you can sort of pull toward it. This sometimes helps but it can also make you lose the fish as it can pull you around, just a bit, giving it more range to find something to dive into or around.

 

Just in general, the canoe I was in, I think the world's greatest fishing canoe by far, is so stealthy that I can float up to within about 20 feet or so of "fresh" targets, then make a little pitch to these choice sites. It makes this a great way to cruise along a stretch of a vegetation line in sort of stealth mode. The inside of my canoe is padded with ethafoam and I just have to think about not banging things around. 

 

Are bigger bass more attuned to noise and shy away from it? I don't know but it seems at times they are.

 

I just want to present something to them that looks like a wounded or startled bait fish without too much commotion on my part.  

 

My "stealthy" canoe below.

 

Brad

[TnRiver46]

That’s a sweet boat and a sweet Fishing spot!! Wish we had some lily pads in East Tennessee